Morgan Richard Tsvangirai’s Legacy:

Language and Factional Polarity in the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe

“…However, unlike other leaders with proven educational and professional credentials, the amplification of Tsvangirai’s rurality appeared to resonate with his alleged leadership deficiencies. This, as illuminated in Gibson Sibanda’s Chematama insult cited above, intimated that the pro-senate faction perceived Tsvangirai to be an inept individual incapable of providing effective leadership in the party (Marongwe, 2022) especially in view of his humble rural beginnings.…”

“…Notwithstanding the multiplicity of political scientists and sociologists who have expertly studied several aspects relating to the party’s internal and external politics (Makonye, 2021; Marongwe, 2022; Mukwara and Chikonzo, 2021) and media personnel that have not only provided superb coverage but also brilliant analyses of the split events within the MDC, this article focuses on unravelling the language factor and its effects in stifling or spurring factional divisions in the party. Adopting a different perspective from Moyo (2020: 79) who correctly asserts that, ‘the reasons for the splits in MDC revolved around ideological contradictions, structural incoherence, deficiency in internal democracy, and succession or leadership renewal questions’, my interest in this article is to probe the extent to which language could have functioned as a doubled-edged sword that abetted and abated internal strife in the party.…”